Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
SCJ takes ESL training to the Philippines
On January 15 Br. Long Nguyen boarded a plane for his first overseas journey. His destination? The Philippines.
“It’s funny, my family is Vietnamese, but this will be the first time that I will be in Asia.” It will also be his first experience of an SCJ community outside of North America.
After earning a teaching certificate last year from the Wisconsin English as a Second Language Institute (WESLI) Br. Long is going to put his training to use by helping out with one of the three-week ESL sessions held for SCJ students in the Philippine District.
English has become a common language in many of the SCJs’ Asian communities, and it is often the language of higher education. However, most Asian students are new to English, or only have a rudimentary knowledge of it. Br. Long follows several other SCJs from the U.S. Province who have gone to the Philippines to help students with their English.
“I’m looking forward to using my teaching skills, but I am also excited to travel overseas for the first time and get a better sense of the international congregation,” said Br. Long. “And I love to meet new people and learn about different realities.”
Click here to read more about Br. Long and his trip to the Philippines.
Br Long will be in the Philippines until February 15.
Mild winter keeps project moving
Last week we gave you an update on the second phase of Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake. The folks at St. Joseph’s Indian School in South Dakota responded with their own photos of the addition to the Akta Lakota Museum. The project will feature an alumni center as well as a “Hall of History.”
Dixie Thompson, museum director, wrote that “The mild weather this winter is keeping the Alumni/Historical Center project on schedule at St. Joseph’s. Contractors have completed the site work, poured the footings and are now putting up the steel columns and beams that will form the building framework.”
Please remember
Phyllis Gray, the mother of Fr. Tim Gray, suffered a significant stroke on January 10 and died On January 13. Funeral arrangements are today (January 16) in Maine.
Bertus de Jong, Fr. Jan de Jong’s last living uncle, died on January 11 at the age of 91. He was a former SCJ and had served as a missionary in Chile. Fr. Jan had the opportunity to visit with him during his Christmas break travels in Holland.
Parish tragedy
Please keep in prayer the parishioners of Fr. Greg Schill’s family parish, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Helotes, Texas (this is where Fr. Greg’s ordination took place last year). Fr. Greg received news from his parents that an apparent murder-suicide took place within the church. Click here read an article about the deaths. “I ask that the province prays for the deceased, the parish staff and parishioners at this difficult time,” said Fr. Greg
Update
Although his new assignment doesn’t begin until February 1, Fr. Greg Speck has already begun moving back to Mississippi where he will join the pastoral team that serves Holy Spirit in Hernando, Good Shepherd in Robinsonville, St. Gregory in Senatobia and Christ the King in Southaven, and as of February 1, Queen of Peace in Olive Branch.
Fr. Greg’s new address:
St. Michael’s Community House
1360 Nesbit Rd.
P.O. Box 38
Nesbit, MS 38651
Vocation office on the road
Br. Ray Kozuch, province vocation director, notes that vocation staff have been on the road taking part in a number of school and parish gatherings for young people. Last week, he was in Grafton (just north of Milwaukee) giving a presentation to 130 freshmen and sophomores as a part of a program on life choices. In Fond du Lac (southeast Wisconsin), he teamed up with a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame to talk about vocations to religious life.
“There are many ways that the vocation office can plug into parish or school programs for young people,” said Br. Ray. He encourages SCJs to contact him about being a part of upcoming programs for youth. Br. Ray’s email is: brrayscj@wi.rr.com
SHST student first produced the news, now he is in it
Tony Budnick, a seminarian at Sacred Heart School of Theology studying for the Diocese of Knoxville, was recently profiled in Milwaukee’s Catholic Herald.
“Parish involvement eventually led him – after he’d read the book The Collar, set at the Hales Corners seminary [SHST] – to Sacred Heart,” writes Tom Jozwik in the Herald article. “One of the youngest students at the seminary geared to men pursuing the priesthood as a second career, Budnick finds that Sacred Heart is ‘very challenging’ academically, while providing ‘a really supportive atmosphere that is true to real life.’”
He said that he looks forward to “Sacred Heart’s reputedly ‘excellent preaching program’ as his studies continue,” reported the Herald.
Before pursing the priesthood, Tony was a television producer based in Knoxville, Tenn.
Click here to read the full article on the Catholic Herald website.
Provincial’s Time
Fr. Tom Cassidy is back in Milwaukee this week doing a visitation at Sacred Heart at SHML. On Sunday, January 22, he leaves for Arizona to visit with family. January 27-31 he will take part in a CMSM leadership gathering in Tuscon. February 7-8 he has meetings with the Provincial Council.
Upcoming meetings and events:
February 7-8: Provincial Council Meeting
March 5-6: Local Coordinators/Superiors Meeting (Hales Corners)
March 27-28: Provincial Council Meeting
April 15: Easter Concert at Sacred Heart Monastery/School of Theology
May 15: Mass for the Anointing of the Sick, SHM/SHST
May 30-31: Provincial Council Meeting (budgets)
June 15: Feast of the Sacred Heart
June 28: Provincial Council Meeting (conference call re: formation)
July 9-12: Province Assembly, Hales Corners
July 16-21: General Conference, Neustadt, German
July 23-25: SCJ Major Superiors Meeting, Neustadt, Germany
